"Yes....The overall production of iron ore in the country has been above the domestic consumption by domestic industry," said Minister of State for Steel and Mines Vishnu Deo Sai in Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question in this regard.

Iron ore is a key steel-making input. "Total production of iron ore during 2013-14 is about 152.43 million tonnes whereas the estimated consumption is about 110.50 million tonnes," he added.

During 2013-14, Sai said, iron ore export from the country was about 14.41 million tonnes which is approximately 9.4 percent of the production.

The government imposed 30 per export duty on iron ore and 5 percent for iron ore pellets in order to meet the demands of domestic steel sector and to increase the availability of domestically produced iron ore.

To a separate question, the minister said there had been some nominal rise in the prices of steel items during the April-September period of the current year due to rise in the cost of other inputs like labour, transportation, etc.